


Taking the Leap

by Brumeier



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Camping, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 02:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6137404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney has a proposal for John, but it's not what he thinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking the Leap

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [ Leap Year Mini-Fest](http://sga-squee.livejournal.com/163579.html) on [ sga_squee](http://sga-squee.livejournal.com/).

Dr. Magritte brought the topic up at a staff meeting, and somehow word had spread like wildfire through the halls of Atlantis. Now all anyone could talk about was getting married, and it made John a little nervous.

Apparently Leap Day was a day historically set aside for women to propose to men, though Dr. Magritte said that these days it really just opened the door for anyone to propose who thought they’d been waiting long enough for their significant other to make a move. New Lantea wasn’t on the same calendar schedule as Earth, but one of the brainiacs had created an Atlantis calendar that combined Earth holidays with the planet’s annual trip around the sun, keeping the days approximately what they would be for friends and family back home.

Leap Day was coming.

John fervently hoped that no-one was going to spring a proposal on him. He knew he wasn’t the most observant person when it came to people’s feelings about him. More than one young Pegasus woman had surprised him with an invitation to get physical. He never saw it coming. But there were no women in Atlantis that he had those kinds of feelings for.

“Can you believe this?” Rodney dropped his lunch tray on the table and sat across from John. “I’m sick to death of hearing about the world’s greatest proposals.”

“Yeah. Me too.” John picked at his lunch. 

He supposed he was most worried about Rodney, as far as the whole Leap Day thing went. There’d been the ill-fated proposal he almost made to Katie Brown, and the disastrous proposal to Jennifer Keller. If he currently had his eye on another female, he certainly hadn’t told John about it. Not that John minded – too much – helping pick up the pieces when Rodney’s plans crashed and burned. That’s what friends were for. But he was afraid that one of these times Rodney wouldn’t fail.

John knew it was selfish. He’d had feelings for Rodney for a long time now, but he’d been able to keep it under control, keep it under wraps. They were friends, best friends, and that was good enough. No sense wishing for something he couldn’t have. But he could try and defuse any possible proposal attempts.

“Hey, I was thinking,” he said as casually as he could.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Rodney replied with a smirk.

John ignored him. “Maybe we could take a ‘jumper out. You know. For an overnight trip to the mainland or something. Get away from all this marriage talk.”

Rodney nodded, looking thoughtful. He had a smear of chocolate on his chin. “There’s some merit to that. I caught Miko in a tête-à-tête with Simpson earlier. They were giggling. It was disgusting. I can only assume this proposal thing will reach its apex on Leap Day. If we could skip the whole thing that would be good. It’s not like anyone in my department is being productive right now anyway.”

John felt entirely more relieved than he should have. “Great! I’ll talk to Woolsey about getting the time off.”

Rodney gave him a speculative look, then shrugged and went back to his pudding.

*o*o*o*

John wanted to get an early start on Leap Day, so that they could get gone before something bad happened. Which meant tracking Rodney down in his lab, waking him up, and chivying him back to his room to get cleaned up and packed. He caught the tail end of a proposal in the Mess when he went to gather up some food for the trip. They were getting out just in time.

Teyla and Ronon had declined John’s invitation to come along, but for different reasons. Teyla was very interested in the tradition of proposals, and wanted to hang around to see how it all worked out. Ronon had shrugged and declared his indifference, but John thought he was secretly hoping that Amelia would be interested enough to pop the question, even though they’d only been dating a few months.

Rodney met John in the ‘jumper bay, his duffel bag bulging at the seams. He was geared up for a mission, laptop strapped to the back of his tac vest.

“Expecting trouble?” John asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Prepare for the worst and all that. Besides, I know what an adrenalin junkie you are. Probably your best day off is having armed natives chase you around.”

John nodded. “Good cardio.”

Rodney rolled his eyes and stowed his gear. There were no natives on the mainland. New Lantea was a beautiful, empty world that they’d barely explored. John was looking forward to doing some hiking, maybe some fishing, get a better feel for the place they were calling home.

John settled into the pilot’s seat and got clearance to leave. Rodney dropped down into the co-pilot’s seat and propped his tablet up on the console.

“Please tell me your plans for our overnight trip don’t include a lot of manly stalking of prey. I don’t need that kind of a relationship with my food.”

“Stalking of prey?” John chuckled as he guided the ‘jumper up through the bay doors. “Yes, I plan on fishing. I also brought food. And don’t tell me you didn’t pack a dozen MREs in your bag.”

“Of course I did.” Rodney sounded offended. “I’d rather not spend the night in a hypoglycemic ball of misery.”

“Nope. Wouldn’t want that.”

John used the manual controls to send the ‘jumper sailing across the sea, nice and low. Rodney tapped away at the tablet, and brought up a detailed topographical map of the mainland.

“I selected several key locations that will provide the best terrain for camping. If I factor in your need to sit around with a stick and some fishing line, I can narrow that down even more.”

John couldn’t help being amused. It was just like Rodney to apply logic; if left to his own devices John would just eyeball the shoreline and pick something that looked good. It was just one way in a million that he and Rodney were complete opposites, yet somehow totally complemented each other.

Friendships were weird.

*o*o*o*

For all of his complaining, Rodney was very methodical about helping set up their campsite. John had packed an actual tent, which he found preferable to just sleeping in the back of the ‘jumper. Rodney produced an air mattress, and John wondered when that had become standard equipment.

“I have a bad back,” Rodney said defensively.

They had the Ancient equivalent of a Coleman stove, LED lanterns, and folding camp chairs. Rodney had packed a seemingly endless supply of individually packaged snack cakes, and a full playlist of classical music on his laptop. As far as John was concerned, they were all set and it was time for exploration portion of their trip.

“You want to what?” Rodney stared at him like he had an extra head.

“Hiking. I hear some people do that when they go camping.”

“You must be joking! Hiking is all we ever do! I certainly don’t want to do it on my day off.”

“Suit yourself.” John strapped on his thigh holster – this was Pegasus, after all, and only fools didn’t prepare themselves for anything – and grabbed a canteen. “See you later.”

He didn’t get far before he heard Rodney following him, grumbling with every step. John hid his grin and slowed his pace, waiting for Rodney to catch up to him.

They hiked along the shoreline, taking their time. Once Rodney stopped complaining he was actually fun to spend time with. They talked about everything: Rodney’s current projects, John’s ideas for expanding city exploration, who they thought might be fielding marriage proposals, and what movies they should request before the _Daedalus_ made another supply run out to Pegasus.

“You know, this isn’t so bad,” Rodney said when they paused at the edge of a bluff to enjoy the view. 

John looked at him, feeling a well of affection. He couldn’t pinpoint the moment Rodney had become more than a friend to him, though he suspected it had been a gradual wearing-down of his defenses. What he did know was this: Rodney was the most important person in his life, and John would gladly give his life for Rodney’s.

“If we live long enough to make it retirement,” Rodney said, still gazing out at the sea. “Do you think you’d want to stay here? In Pegasus, I mean.”

John shrugged. “Can’t say I’ve given it much thought.”

“I would. Live in Atlantis, maybe build a second home on the mainland.” Rodney did a slow turn, taking in the terrain around them. “This would be a nice spot. Excellent view. No nosy neighbors.”

John could picture it in his head. A wind-swept cottage on the bluff, the rooms full of whiteboards and books and Ancient artefacts. Rodney running equations, running experiments. John wondered if there’d be room for him in that future.

*o*o*o*

Rodney built a bonfire while John cleaned the fish they’d caught. It was a very pleasant dinner, and John was more relaxed than he’d been in a long while. He wished he’d brought his guitar, and made a mental note not to forget it for next time. There was definitely going to be a next time.

There was a soft bit of classical music playing on the laptop, and Rodney had his eyes closed as he conducted a phantom orchestra. John looked his fill, enjoying the play of firelight across Rodney’s face and the fluid movement of his hands as they dipped and fluttered. Sometimes he made John’s breath catch in his chest.

And then Rodney opened his eyes and he was looking right at John, who quickly schooled his features into something safely bland. He had the sinking feeling he hadn’t been quick enough this time.

“Did you know that some of the greatest scientific discoveries of our time were based on wild supposition?” Rodney asked.

John let himself relax again. This was familiar territory, and no doubt Rodney wanted to tell him a story that illustrated his own genius. John didn’t mind those too much, because that big brain had saved his life on more than one occasion. If Rodney got too carried away with the bragging, he knew how to bring him back down to reality.

“I thought you were more logical in your approach.”

Rodney nodded, and looked pleased. “I am! But sometimes even I have to take a leap of faith, as it were. This is one of those times.”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and favored John with such an intense look that John was glad to have the bonfire as an excuse for the heat in his face.

“I have a proposal for you.”

John had a sudden, overwhelming urge to flee. Proposal? On Leap Day? That couldn’t possibly be what Rodney was referring to, because they weren’t dating, hadn’t ever even _talked_ about dating, and Rodney always proposed to women.

“Maybe that was a bad choice of words. Let’s say proposition instead. No, no, that has certain connotations, doesn’t it, and while I wouldn’t be adverse to –”

“Rodney!” John barked. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the rest of what Rodney was trying to say, but he couldn’t take the nervous babbling either. And even just noticing that Rodney was nervous was making John nervous too.

“Yes, sorry.” Rodney worried at his bottom lip with his teeth for a long moment. “I’m not really good at reading people. But I feel like I can read you pretty well. I mean, we’ve been friends for a long time. So I was wondering what you’d think if, next Leap Day, I proposed. To you.”

John struggled to make sense of that, though it was hard to hear over the rush of blood in his ears. His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest.

“Next Leap Day. In four years?”

“Four years should give us more than enough time to make sure that’s something we want.” Rodney looked so hopeful and sincere that John almost found himself saying yes just to make him happy.

“This all seems a bit sudden.” John tried to lighten the mood and give Rodney a chance to say he was just joking.

“But it’s not. Not for me. You know why things didn’t work out with Katie or Jennifer? They weren’t right. Not even a little. I couldn’t imagine myself growing old with them.”

“And you can with me?” John couldn’t help asking. There was bright, burning feeling just under his skin, and he had to clench his hands into fists to keep from reaching out.

“Only you,” Rodney said. “It’s only ever been you.”

John didn’t remember moving, had no conscious thought to do so, but the next thing he knew he was on his knees in front of Rodney’s chair. His hands were cupping Rodney’s face, and they were kissing, and it was everything that John had never dared to dream for himself.

“Is that a yes?” Rodney gasped.

“Yes. In four years you can propose to me.”

Rodney responded with another kiss, all but melting into John despite the awkward position. John felt like he was burning up, like all of his fears and doubts and secret desires were turning to dust and leaving him lighter, freer, than he’d ever been.

“Might be a good time to check out the air mattress,” Rodney suggested breathlessly.

“You’re a genius,” John replied. He knew he was grinning like an idiot but he didn’t care. He had a feeling that when Leap Day rolled around again, he was going to be more than ready for a real proposal.

**Epilogue**

They didn’t make it the full four years. Instead, John and Rodney were married on the East pier, in front of all their family and friends, barely one year after that fateful camping trip.

They’d waited long enough.


End file.
